Most questions at the school-level bee give many clues. For the first several rounds, you get a choice between two options. As the rounds progress, the difficulty increases and you no longer get options. (For examples, click here.)

In the championship round, the difficulty increases to the level of questions asked at the state level.

If you end up in a tie-breaker round at the school level, watch out! Many strong contestants have been eliminated by an unfortunate question.

At the school level, the majority of the rounds (over 50%) will probably be U.S. state questions. However, National Geographic changes things every year, so there’s no guarantee that this year’s Bee will look similar to last year’s.